Friday, November 23, 2007

If you haven't visited my parents' blog, then you don't already know that I was in a car accident on Saturday evening. I had just finished my last party in Mansfield and was on my way home in Grand Prairie when it happened. I had just stopped at a stoplight on 360 when all of a sudden, I was hit from behind by a small SUV going about 40-50mph. I had NO idea it was coming and did not see it in my rear view mirror which is probably for the better. It was so hard, that I hit the person in front of me, who also hit the person in front of them. I really didn't know what had happened. I heard a loud pop and when I opened my eyes, there was smoke everywhere, the airbag was in my face, a man had just opened my door and there were sirens coming around the corner. I'm assuming I did lose consciousness because I don't remember anything before that. Because of the dust from the airbag and having my face slammed into it, I was coughing like crazy. At first when I woke up, I thought my car was on fire and about to explode. For those of you who have never had an airbag deploy...it SUCKS. The smell is horrendous and this terrible burnt tasting dust goes all in your face and down your throat. My nose was throbbing because of the impact and my leg...OHHH MY..it still hurts. My left shin got smashed under the dashboard and although it's only scraped and bruised, it feels terrible. Every time I stand up on it, it starts throbbing like crazy and I feel like my entire leg is going to explode.

I did go to the hospital because soon after the accident I started having severe cramping and I was also worried about my leg which I couldn't put ANY pressure on at the time. They did a sonogram to check on my baby and thankfully, it still has a strong heartbeat. The only problem is that the placenta has slightly torn away from the lining of my uterus and they could see bleeding on the sonogram pictures. Because I haven't had any bleeding on the outside, the doctor felt like it would heal itself, although she said this does put me at a higher risk for miscarriage now.

As far as my leg, neck and back, I refused x-rays because my baby's organs are all forming at this time. The doctor said that if I were further along, they would definitely x-ray, but she felt it was too dangerous right now. The rest of me is just bruised. My leg is of course bruised all the way around it, my arm has some yucky bruising from my seatbelt and my chest had some slight greenish bruising for a while but it is leaving now.

I've been in Oklahoma/Arkansas visiting Austin's family for Thanksgiving and although the stiffness and cramping have stopped, I'm still feeling very sore all over and I'm suffering from bad headaches. I started throwing up a whole bunch and sleeping all day for the past couple of days and Austin's mom is thinking I may have been concussed. Right now, what bothers me most is noise. Listening to a bunch of different noises (tv, voices, radios, etc.) rattles my head and makes me feel very dizzy and very sick to my stomach. I feel like my equilibrium is off or something because just turning my head makes my brain hurt. Also, when I stand up, everything blacks out. I know a lot of this could be pregnancy related, but I wasn't feeling this way before the accident so I'm attributing it to that right now. When I get home, I'm making appointments to see my regular doctor and my OB to check things out further and find out what this dizziness thing is.

If you want to see pictures of my car, you can visit my parents' blog which is listed in "my favorites" list. It's PawPaw and MawMaw's blog. My car doesn't LOOK bad, but it's also a big car which I'm thankful for, otherwise it would have been accordion style smooshed. The lady who hit my was in a Mercedes SUV and it was pretty smashed in the front, all the way to the windshield. She felt really bad and kept apologizing to me and crying. I felt bad for her, but I was so out of it at the time I don't think I said much to her. Behind her was an off duty policeman which was also the guy who opened my door and stayed with me the whole time. He was very nice and I was very thankful to have him there since I had no clue what was going on.

Now we are left with the issue of my car which is only a year old so we owe way more than it's worth I'm sure. Right now they are quoting $11,500 worth of damages, but this is also before they get IN to the car and disassemble it. The insurance guy said they may end up totaling it out. Both options are bad for us I think. If they total it, they will only pay for it's worth, not what we owe so we will have to continue to make payments on a car we don't have. If they don't total it, it will have SO MANY repairs that it won't be the same 1 year old car it was before the wreck and from them on, it will have a bad car history. Dontcha just love all this stupid car insurance junk? whatever!

So that's that. Sorry I haven't been around. I've been in bed most of the time since Saturday night and I'm just now feeling the least amount of queasy so I can post. I hope you didn't miss me too much!

Because of the Thanksgiving season I would like to say, I'm thankful for my family and our health and safety. I'm thankful I had my seat belt on during the accident, I'm thankful that I know there are more important things that matter in this life other than owing money for a car and being in debt so I won't dwell on this. I'm thankful Austin and I have such great families who care for us so much and do SO many things for us. Happy Thanksgiving!

11 comments:

Julie
said...

I'm so glad to see you back on here! I have been really worried about you. We have been praying for you. I hope you figure out what all this dizziness and everything else is about. I know I'm far away but if there is anything I can do, let me know. I can be there in a heartbeat.

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I am really glad to hear that your baby is ok so far and I will pray that it continues to be so. I hope you get better fast but I really appreciated what you said about knowing there are more important things than owing money.

I am sorry that such a terrible thing happened to you! It is too bad about your car, but thank goodness it was big and protected you from being injured even more. The Pierce family is praying for you and the baby. NancyP

Jess...i'm so sorry. will keep you and baby in my prayers. glad to hear you are taking it easy and going to see your dr.'s asap. that doesn't all sound like pregnancy sicknesses going on, especially since you didn't have them b4 the accident. Will put your name in DC temple as well.

That is horrible Jessica:( I am so sad for you and all the pain and stress you are going through:( It makes me never want to drive anywhere again:( I hope you start to heal soon....and that the baby continues to do well.

I'm so glad to hear that you and #4 are okay!I was in a fender bender when I was 7 months pregnant with my first and I think that makes it all 10 times worse!The names on my blog are all made up (obviously) because I live in Vegas and I'm paranoid! We'll keep you in our prayers, hope you feel better soon!

I just found your blog through Mrs. R's. Sad to hear about your car accident. I think the "blacking out" thing is scary because my cousin has the same thing happen to her, and if it happens while she is driving she could cause a major accident. I hope you get that diagnosed immediately. About the debt thing. A lawyer will handle that no problem. YOU DEFINITELY NEED TO CALL AN ACCIDENT LAWYER. My brother got in a motorcycle accident a few years ago and learned very quickly you HAVE to go that route if you don't want to end up with the bills. It was NOT your fault. Her insurance will pay considerably more if you have a lawyer. Most lawyers don't charge you a dime unless you get paid.